Collar Workers Research Articles

The Underlying Structure of Preventive Behaviors and Related Factors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comprehensive Network Analysis.

Various strategies against COVID-19 have been adopted in different countries, with vaccination and mask-wearing being widely used as self-preventive interventions. However, the underlying structure of these behaviors and related factors remain unclear. In this study, we aimed to explore the network structure of preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and their underlying factors, incorporating age and sex in the network. We used a multi-center sample of 20,863 adults who were vaccinated against COVID-19 in China between April 1, 2021, and June 1, 2021. Networks were estimated using unregularized partial correlation models. We also estimated the accuracy and stability of the network. The preventive behaviors related to network factors revealed that self-initiated vaccination was more connected with cognition factors, and mask-wearing was more connected with personal profiles. The two clusters were linked through information-seeking and political beliefs. Moreover, self-initiated vaccination was negatively connected with vaccine hesitancy and concerns about COVID-19 vaccines and positively connected with trust in the vaccines, pandemic-related altruism, political beliefs, and being married. Mask-wearing was negatively connected with being a professional/white collar worker and higher education level and positively connected with regular physical examination, self-rated health, migration, being married, and better family relationships. Incorporation of age and sex into the network revealed relevant associations between age and mask-wearing and age and self-initiated vaccination. The network was highly accurately estimated. The subset bootstrap showed that the order of node strength centrality, betweenness, and closeness were all stable. The correlation stability coefficient (CS-coefficient) also showed the stability of this estimate, with 0.75 for node strength, 0.75 for betweenness, and 0.67 for closeness. The internal structures of vaccination and mask-wearing behaviors were quite different, the latter of which were mainly affected by socioeconomic status and health-related behaviors and the former by knowledge about vaccines and political beliefs. Information-seeking and family relationships were the bridge factors connecting these two self-preventive behavior clusters, suggesting the direction of future efforts.

Poruke Dragoljuba Jovanovića o radu i plavi okovratnici - beli robovi u second-hand kapitalizmu

Throughout its history, Serbia has had a large number of important intellectuals, great people in the spiritual and moral sense who left a great mark on the world and Serbian cultural and scientific heritage. However, rarely were these people recognized and their opinion respected in the time in which they worked, and even more rarely were their messages and teachings the guiding thread of those times. The first Serb doctor at the Sorbonne, who received his doctorate in the field of work, invested all his intellectual and political energy in efforts to show Serbs how they should organize work, what optimal work should be based on, how to direct social development and how to a society of social justice is being organized in which work will be the most important value. The values that the proletariat fought for, work, solidarity, social justice, in the new planetary order, have almost disappeared. The working class, which was the ruling class at certain moments, has become a class/layer that is scattered into pieces and that is slowly disappearing, changing its form and its essence - from blue - collar workers to white slaves! The intention of this essay is to, using the analysis of Dragoljub's texts on work, and then a comparison with the present time, point out, first of all, the basic messages of the doctor of labor from the Sorbonne, which concern precisely the issue of work, then the state of the working class (blue - collar workers) today and on the basis of that analysis and on the basis of the messages of Dragoljub's search for a more certain future of blue - collar workers.

Receipts and income of households in Poland

This article aims to assess the income situation of households in Poland, considering the level of receipts and in[1]come as well as their dynamics and structure. An analysis was also carried out with respect to differences between particular socio-economic groups and between households depending on the number of persons in a household. The Gini coefficient was used for analytical purposes. Moreover, an attempt was made to identify the causes of income diversification. The analysis was carried out based on data derived from household budget surveys conducted by Statistics Poland. The research covered the period from 2000 to 2019 (individual years). The study showed a real increase in the average monthly net receipts and available income in all households. The most favour[1]able financial situation was observed in white-collar workers, self-employed persons and one-person households. The least favourable income situation was found in households of blue[1]collar workers and pensioners and households of six or more persons. However, attention should also be paid to changes taking place in the structure of sources of income generated by household members. There is an increase in income from hired work and social assistance benefits. The highest variations in receipts and available income were observed in households of farmers and those of six or more persons. In contrast, the smallest variations were recorded with respect to households of old-age pensioners and one-person households.

Three Poems: ‘Charleena Chavon Lyles’, ‘Spotted Owl’, ‘Economics’

This collection of poems is based in working-class life through an intersectional lens on the west coast of the US. It includes a documentary poem to a young Black woman, Charleena Chavon Lyles, who has been elegized by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in Seattle. It draws on news articles and an obituary to support its truth claims and aims to counter the official police report and support the global, working class, BLM movement. ‘Spotted Owl’ is a poem that talks back to the opposition between loggers and the forest, in part from the point of view of an old growth tree. It highlights the intimate relationship between trees and owls and between blue- collar workers who directly work with natural resources and the environment. ‘Economics’ is about work beyond capitalism, through a focus on the relationship between bees and a chaste tree and the Irish word for labor, saothar. In sum, these poems address the lived experience of class through the author’s vantage at this place and time, from the US west coast.

Do exports and innovation matter for the demand of skilled labor?

ABSTRACT The objective of the paper is to examine the impact of exports and innovation on the demand for skilled labor in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In this matter, we contribute to the existing literature in several ways. First, we examine the connection between exports and skill bias through several innovation and technology adoption indicators, which we divide into core product-related innovation and innovation in auxiliary services. Second, we differentiate between the effect of innovation on skilled blue-collar (production workers) vs. white collar (non-production) workers. We also run the regressions for the manufacturing sector and the services sector separately. Third, we test this relationship for eight MENA countries, using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (2013). Our results suggest a positive and significant impact of the extensive trade margin on innovation and technology adoption, while trade at the intensive margin is insignificant. Furthermore, demand for skilled workers by firms in the MENA region is likely to be higher for production workers than that for non-production ones. This demand is particularly high when a firm adopts a new product, a new production method or spends on research and development, rather than in the case of spending on auxiliary services. At the sector level, the impact of innovation on the demand for skilled labor is positive and significant in the manufacturing sector.

Augmenting autonomy: ‘New Collar’ labor and the future of tech work

This essay maps IBM’s attempts to construct a typology of high-tech ‘New Collar’ work and leverage policymaking outcomes to underwrite IBM corporate ventures capable of materializing this work. Through a discursive analysis of IBM corporate texts, webpages, and the 2017 New Collar Jobs Act, I argue for New Collar work to be understood through the lens of autonomy, as IBM recasts notions of ‘autonomous’ technology onto humans by downplaying dystopic associations of technological autonomy and transferring notions of autonomy to human workers. In doing so, I account for IBM’s use of ‘augmentation’ to situate human intelligence as the cognitive force uplifted by work performed with artificial intelligence. By pairing human augmentation with posthumanist conceptions of ‘distributed cognition’, IBM centers human intelligence through a redistributed cognition that reverses posthumanism’s decentering of human supremacy. Following from this, I unpack ‘New Collar’ as a reinvention of ‘white’ and ‘blue’ collar dichotomies and New Collar work as the grounds for tech workers to reinvent themselves. In this way, by minimizing the necessity of 4-year college degrees as pathways to economic and professional mobility, IBM constructs ‘New Collar’ with embedded notions of enlarged self-determination for applied worker intellect, vocational training, and employability. Under the aegis of creating, training, and employing New Collar workers, IBM pursues policy outcomes to underwrite corporate ventures related to New Collar work and bolster its institutional autonomy amidst marketplaces of cognitive capitalism. By outlining how tax relief provisions of the New Collar Jobs Act correlate with neoliberal ideologies of legislators and IBM investments in public–private vocational models and cybersecurity platforms, I account for IBM’s elongated ‘economy of learning’ that enables the company to more thoroughly capture, underwrite, and commodify New Collar cognition from training to market outputs.

Paid sick leave benefits, influenza vaccination, and taking sick days due to influenza-like illness among U.S. workers

IntroductionStaying home when sick can reduce the spread of influenza. The objectives of this study were to quantify the percentage of workers who had paid sick leave (PSL) benefits, examine sociodemographic characteristics that may be associated with having these benefits, and examine the association between having PSL benefits and use of sick days and influenza vaccination status. MethodsThe public-use dataset from the 2009 National H1N1 Flu Survey (NHFS) were analyzed in 2017. Wald chi-square tests and t-tests were used to test for associations between having PSL benefits and sociodemographic characteristics and industry and occupation groups, the associations between having PSL benefits and seeking treatment when sick with influenza-like illness (ILI), and taking days off work when sick with ILI. Logistic regression was used to determine variables associated with having PSL benefits and the association between having PSL benefits and influenza vaccination status. ResultsSixty-one percent of employed adults reported having PSL benefits during the 2009–10 influenza season. Being younger, female, Hispanic, less educated, or a farm/blue collar worker were associated with reduced likelihood of having PSL benefits. Not having PSL benefits was associated with a lower likelihood of receiving an influenza vaccination and visiting a health professional when sick with ILI. ConclusionsThe percentage of workers who have PSL benefits differs by sociodemographic characteristics and industry/occupation groups. Offering PSL benefits along with promoting influenza vaccination and encouraging employees with ILI to stay home can increase influenza vaccination coverage and help control the spread of influenza.

Computers and Populism

I project the near-term future of work to ask whether job losses induced by artificial intelligence will increase the appeal of populist politics. The paper first explains how computers and machine learning automate workplace tasks. Automated tasks help to both create and eliminate jobs and I show why job elimination centers in blue collar and clerical work – an impact similar to that of manufactured imports and offshored services. I sketch the near-term evolution of three technologies aimed at blue collar and clerical occupations: autonomous long-distance trucks, automated customer service responses and industrial robotics. I estimate that in the next five-to-seven years, the jobs lost to each of these technologies will be modest but visible. I then outline the structure of populist politics. Populist surges are rare but a populist candidate who pits “the people” (truck drivers, call center operators, factory operatives) against “the elite” (software developers, venture capitalists) will be mining many the U.S. regional and education fault lines that were part of the 2016 presidential election.

Opportunities for Increased Physical Activity in the Workplace: the Walking Meeting (WaM) Pilot Study, Miami, 2015.

IntroductionDespite the positive impact walking has on human health, few opportunities exist for workers with largely sedentary jobs to increase physical activity while at work. The objective of this pilot study was to examine the implementation, feasibility, and acceptability of using a Walking Meeting (WaM) protocol to increase the level of work-related physical activity among a group of sedentary white-collar workers.MethodsWhite-collar workers at a large university were invited to participate in a newly developed WaM protocol. Workers who conducted weekly meetings in groups of 2 or 3 individuals were recruited for the pilot study (n = 18) that took place from January 2015 to August 2015. Seventeen participants wore an accelerometer to measure physical activity levels during 3 consecutive weeks (first week baseline, followed by 2 weeks of organized WaMs) and participated in focus groups conducted during week 3 to document experiences with the WaM protocol.ResultsThe WaM protocol met study criteria on feasibility, implementation, and acceptability among study participants. The average number of minutes (standard deviation) participants engaged in combined work-related moderate/vigorous physical activity per week during the 3 weeks increased from an average of 107 (55) minutes during the baseline week to 114 (67) minutes at week 2 and to 117 (65) minutes at week 3.ConclusionWhite- collar workers were supportive of transforming regular seated meetings into walking meetings and increased their work-related physical activity levels.

Labor in the Twenty-First Century: The Top 0.1% and the Disappearing Middle-Class

The ongoing explosion of the incomes of the richest households and the erosion of middle-class employment opportunities for most of the rest have become integrally related in the now-normal operation of the U.S. economy. Since the beginning of the 1980s, employment relations in U.S. industrial corporations have undergone three major structural changes – summarized as “rationalization,” “marketization,” and “globalization” – that have permanently eliminated middle-class jobs in the United States. From the early 1980s, rationalization, characterized by plant closings, terminated the jobs of high-school educated blue-collar workers, most of them well-paid union members. From the early 1990s, marketization, characterized by the end of a career with one company as an employment norm, placed the job security of middle-aged white- collar workers, many of them college educated, in jeopardy. From the early 2000s, globalization, characterized by the movement of employment offshore to lower-wage nations, left all members of the U.S. labor force, whatever their educational credentials and work experience, vulnerable to displacement. Initially, these structural changes in employment could be justified as business responses to changes in technologies, markets, and competitors. Once U.S. corporations transformed their employment relations, however, they often pursued rationalization, marketization, and globalization to cut current costs rather than to reposition themselves to produce competitive products. Defining superior corporate performance as ever-higher quarterly earnings per share, companies turned to massive stock repurchases to “manage” their own corporations’ stock prices. Trillions of dollars that could have been spent on innovation and job creation in the U.S. economy over the past three decades have instead been used to buy back stock for the purpose of manipulating stock prices. Legitimizing this financialized mode of corporate resource allocation has been the ideology, itself a product of the 1980s and 1990s, that a business corporation should be run to “maximize shareholder value.” Through their stock options and stock awards, corporate executives who make these resource-allocation decisions are themselves prime beneficiaries of the focus on rising stock prices as the sole measure of corporate performance. While rationalization, marketization, and globalization undermined stable and remunerative employment structures, the “financialization” of the U.S. corporation entailed the distribution of corporate cash to shareholders through stock repurchases, often in addition to generous cash dividends, and, incentivizing these distributions, the stock-based remuneration of top corporate executives. In this essay, I review evidence on the fundamental structural changes related to rationalization, marketization, and globalization that, since the early 1980s, have eroded U.S. middle-class employment opportunities. Then, I analyze how, in many different ways and in many different industries, the financialized mode of corporate resource allocation has undermined the prosperity of the U.S. economy. I go on to show how justified by the ideology that companies should be run to “maximize shareholder value,” this financialized behavior boosts the remuneration of top corporate executives, providing a major explanation for the increasing concentration of income among the top 0.1% of U.S. households that is, through the very way it is achieved, based on the systematic destruction of middle-class employment opportunities available to members of the U.S. labor force.

Relationship of socioeconomic status with health behaviors and self-perceived health in the elderly: A community-based study, Turkey

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of socioeconomic status on health behaviors and perceived health. The present cross-sectional study included 2947 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 years and older. Dependent variables were health behaviors and self-perceived health. The independent variable was socioeconomic status. In men, the risk of unhealthy diet was higher among the uneducated group (OR 4.48) and among those with poor/very poor economic status (OR 3.31). Additionally, in men, having poor/very poor self-perceived health was found to be 3.50-fold significantly higher among the uneducated group than the secondary school and higher-educated group. Lower education level and lower social class were found to be protective factors for smoking in women. In women, the risk of unhealthy diet was found to be 1.54- and 2.18-fold significantly higher, respectively, among those who graduated from primary school and uneducated. There was also a relationship between poor/very poor economic status and unhealthy diet among elderly women (OR 2.80). In women, the risk of physical inactivity was found to be 1.98-fold significantly higher in the uneducated group and 1.79-fold significantly higher in those with poor/very poor economic status, 0.33-fold significantly lower in skilled employees/white collar workers. With regard to self-perceived health status, education level and perceived economic status were significantly related to poor/very poor health status in women (OR 2.09 and OR 4.08, respectively). In older men and women, lower socioeconomic status increases the risk of unhealthy diet and poor health perception. In older women, lower socioeconomic status is a protective factor for smoking, but it also increases physical inactivity.

Adolescent brushing and its association with parents′ socio-economic status

Sir, Tooth brushing is an effective method of cleaning smooth surfaces of the teeth and disturbing plaque colonies where accessible.[1] Studies showed that children's oral health is associated with parents’ socio-economic status (SET).[2,3] Oral hygiene is considered one of the primary health care (PHC) components in Iran. In terms of the brushing practice and its importance in dental caries prevention, the current study was conducted to investigate brushing rate and its relation with parents’ EST among female high school students in Gorgan city, northern part of Iran, 2011. In a cross-sectional study, 300 eligible 11th-grade female students were selected through cluster sampling. We randomly selected 5 high schools and recruited all students in every high school. Data were collected through individual interviews using a valid and reliable questionnaire, which included family income, maternal education, father's education, mother's and father's occupation, weight, height, family size and the question toward brushing. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test in SPSS 18 software. Results of the study showed that 62% brushed on a regular basis, 27.7% brushed irregularly and 10.3% never brushed. The rate of brushing was influenced by income (χ2 = 21.37, P < 0.001), parents’ education (χ2 = 29.44, P < 0.001) and father's occupation (χ2 = 31.42, P < 0.001). Students who had a better economic status, having had higher-educated parents and employed fathers brushed significantly more than others. Students who had a low income, low-educated parents, and unemployed or collar workers as their fathers brushed significantly less than other students. A large percentage of students don’t regularly brush, which is consistent with other studies in this area.[4,5] Today's female students are tomorrow's mothers who have a great influence on their children's home care habits like brushing. Therefore, we recommended appropriate intervention especially educational intervention for increasing the rate of brushing among high school female students. In this regard, we should pay more attention to students whose fathers have poor economic status and are illiterate, less educated, unemployed and collar workers.

G. Robert Vincent Voice Library

The G. Robert Vincent Library at Michigan State University is a fascinating collection of recorded voices, the culmination of one man's obsession, drive, vision, devotion, tenacity, and talent. G. Robert Vincent was the collection's developer and, for many years, its main supporter and proponent. To understand its creation and contents, an overview of Vincent's life and career is necessary. Much of the background comes from a Ph.D. dissertation by Douglas E. Collar. (2) Dr. Collar's work was based on scrapbooks, unpublished manuscripts and interviews with Vincent, his family, and his associates. George Robert Vincent was born on 17 July 1898, in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Lisa Bloch, was a literary figure who wrote under the penname Lisa Ysaye. She was the daughter of a prominent Viennese rabbi and statesman. His father was the Boston physician Dr. John Vincent. Their marriage dissolved in 1902 and Lisa, with her two children, returned to her family home in Vienna, where Bob and his sister came under the influence of their strict grandfather, Joseph Bloch. Bob learned German, which was to be important throughout his life. His mother married Dr. Joseph Tarlau, another rabbi, in 1903; in 1905, the family moved to New York City, where three more sons were born to Lisa. Her eldest son, Bob, although an indifferent student, used his strong independent streak and zest for adventure to seek out more challenges than those offered by school and family life. In part because of his mother's association with publishers and literary agents, Bob developed an idea for a magazine for He worked his way into the offices of some of the most influential publishers and newspapermen of the day, and eventually, at age 12, succeeded in obtaining support for the publication of his own periodical, The Boys' Paper, which was published from 1910 to 1914. He wrote much of the content, sought articles and editorials from newsworthy figures, and included his mother's work from time to time. Bob never lacked the courage to introduce himself to important individuals and he never hesitated to persuade these leaders to write letters of support or introduction. Throughout his life, this self-confidence remained an asset that seldom failed him. One of Vincent's lifelong heroes was Theodore Roosevelt. After leaving the United States presidency in 1908, Mr. Roosevelt accepted a position as a contributing editor for The Outlook, a New York weekly. In the course of seeking articles, Vincent met Roosevelt and persuaded him to write a statement for The Boys' Paper. This was the first of several encounters. Perhaps the most formative meeting came in the summer of 1912. Vincent and his friends had formed The Boys' Progressive League, an offshoot of The Boys' Paper. Although too young to vote, they were vitally interested in the presidential election that year. Roosevelt formed the Bull Moose Party, a third political party, so that he could run for president again. The members of the League supported him and they wanted him to address a meeting of their organization. Vincent and four friends went to Roosevelt's home to present the invitation. With considerable foresight, Vincent borrowed an Edison cylinder recording machine from Thomas Edison, whose son Charles was Vincent's close friend. When Roosevelt declined the invitation due to time constraints, Vincent prevailed upon him to record a short speech to be played to the League members. This was a coup. The other youngsters doubted Vincent could succeed in getting Roosevelt to speak, and they certainly didn't envision having a recording. The speech lasts just under three minutes and is titled A message to the American boys. That the first voice Bob ever recorded was Theodore Roosevelt, even though on a fairly primitive machine, was to become a claim to fame that he enjoyed throughout his life. This experience helped set him on his ultimate career path. Later, the Edison Recording Division plated this wax cylinder and gave it to Bob, along with the original machine he used. …

Job demands-resources and early retirement intention: Differences between blue-and white-collar workers

This study investigates workers’ early retirement intention among blue- and white-collar workers along two processes as described in the Job Demands—Resources model: (1) an energetic process wherein job demands are associated positively with early retirement intention through perceived ill-health, and (2) a motivational process wherein job resources are associated negatively with early retirement intention through work enjoyment. Analyses are based on 1812 Belgian workers aged 45 or older. Results from structural equation modelling provided support for the motivational process, with a stronger relationship between job resources and work enjoyment among blue-(vs white-) collar workers. The energetic process was not supported: the relationship between job demands and early retirement intention was direct and not indirect through perceived ill-health, and this relationship was stronger among white- (vs blue-) collar workers.

Workplace Smoking: Options for Employees and Legal Risks for Employees

Across the country at work each day, many people are subjected to the dangerous and potentially deadly fumes of secondhand tobacco smoke. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand tobacco smoke in the most hazardous group of carcinogens, and some studies have shown secondhand smoke to be even more toxic than smoke inhaled directly by smokers. The U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure from secondhand smoke. Employees accumulate toxins in their bodies from the presence of secondhand smoke in the workplace, and nonsmokers who work in a smoking environment increase their risk of heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and their risk of lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent. Blue collar and service workers are disproportionately affected by secondhand smoke at their jobs, and employees of restaurants, bars and other hospitality businesses where smoking is allowed are especially likely to suffer the damaging effects of secondhand smoke.Advocates for clean air in the workplace have seen numerous successes over the past four decades. As of January 2008, 685 local governments and 35 states (plus the District of Columbia) have laws requiring 100 percent smokefree non-hospitality workplaces and/or restaurants and/or bars. Moreover, at least two state occupational health and safety agencies have adopted regulations prohibiting smoking in certain enclosed places of employment.However, much of the U.S. population still is not covered by a comprehensive smokefree workplace law or regulation. This law synopsis explores policy options for employees to make their workplace smokefree and legal options for employees who remain exposed to secondhand smoke on the job. Section I discusses four policy approaches that an employee might pursue with coworkers and other advocates who want to turn workplaces into smokefree environments. Section II explains three types of legal actions that an employee might be able to take against his or her employer for exposure to secondhand smoke at work.

The Mexican Immigration Debate

This article uses census microdata to address key issues in the Mexican immigration debate. First, we find striking parallels in the experiences of older and newer immigrant groups with substantial progress among second- and subsequent-generation immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and Mexican Americans. Second, we contradict a view of immigrant history that contends that early–twentieth–century immigrants from southern and eastern Europe found well–paying jobs in manufacturing that facilitated their ascent into the middle class. Both first and second generations remained predominantly working class until after World War II. Third, the erosion of the institutions that advanced earlier immigrant generations is harming the prospects of Mexican Americans. Fourth, the mobility experience of earlier immigrants and of Mexicans and Mexican Americans differed by gender, with a gender gap opening among Mexican Americans as women pioneered the path to white–collar and professional work. Fifth, public–sector and publicly funded employment has proved crucial to upward mobility, especially among women. The reliance on public employment, as contrasted to entrepreneurship, has been one factor setting the Mexican and African American experience apart from the economic history of most southern and eastern European groups as well as from the experiences of some other immigrant groups today.

Hypertension in the United States workforce: differences in prevalence and treatment rates among blue- and white- collar workers

Hypertension in the United States workforce: differences in prevalence and treatment rates among blue- and white- collar workers

Labour Market Status, Insecurity and Health

Workplace closure results in unselective unemployment. This unique feature has enabled studies of workplace closure to make a significant contribution to knowledge about the effect of unemployment on health. A review of recent longitudinal, controlled studies of workplace closure documents their contribution to this knowledge. It also identifies a number of methodological problems and the scarcity of data on white- collar workers and gender differences. Results are presented from a study of the health effects of job insecurity, change and loss among white- collar men and women which was able to address some of the methodological disadvantages of previous studies.

The Composition of Employment in Manufacturing Industry

This study presents descriptive information on the composition of employment in manufacturing industry in Australia—primarily for the period 1952 to 1987—and undertakes a preliminary analysis of the sources of changes in the composition of employment. It is shown that the occupational composition of employment in manufacturing industry has shifted steadily towards non-production and white- collar workers. Increases in educational attainment within occupation groups have also occurred. A number of potential explanatory factors for the change in the composition of employment are investigated; however, strong supporting evi dence is not found for any specific explanation.

The Adoption of White Collar Computerization by Canadian Business Firms

AbstractThis paper seeks to identify the extent to which Canadian firms have adopted white collar computerization, and to identify factors that differentiate high and low adopters. Based on data collected from 110 major Canadian companies in 17 industrial subsectors, it was found that 71 percent of all white collar employees had been provided with a computer or terminal at their workplace. The data revealed that this proportion varied dramatically across occupational groups, from 58 percent among executives to 88 percent among clerical employees, and across industrial subsectors, from 42 percent in retailing to 93 percent in high technology. The most striking finding was the high variation in computerization level across firms within the same industrial subsector, which was as large as the variation across subsectors. Correlational analysis indicated that in the manufacturing sector, firms with a high proportion of professional employees, a hostile business environment, an aggressive strategic orientation, and favourable top management attitudes had significantly higher levels of white collar computerization, providing some support for the structural contingency model of information technology structure. Interestingly, not one significant correlate was found in the service sector.RésuméCet exposé cherche à identifier l'ampleur de l'informatisation adoptée par les compagnies canadiennes pour leurs employés de bureau et les facteurs qui différencient celles qui les adoptent beaucoup et celles qui les adoptent peu. En se basant sur des données recueillies auprès de cent‐dix compagnies canadiennes importantes dans dixsept secteurs de l'industrie, nous avons découvert que l'on avait fourni un ordinateur ou un terminal sur place à soixante et onze pour cent de tous les employés de bureau. Les données ont révélé que cette proportion variait de façon spectaculaire à travers les groupes de métiers–de cinquante‐huit pour cent pour les directeurs à quatre‐vingt huit pour cent pour les employés de bureau–et à travers les secteurs industriels–de quarante‐deux pour cent dans le commerce de détail à quatre‐vingt treize pour cent dans la haute technologie. Mais le résultat le plus frappant a été la grande variation de niveau d'informatisation dans les compagnies à l'intérieur du měme sous‐secteur industriel, qui était aussi importante que la variation à travers les sous‐secteurs. L'analyse de corrélation indiquait que, dans le secteur de la fabrication, les compagnies qui avaient une forte proportion d'employés professionnels, un milieu de travail hostile, une orientation stratégique agressive et des attitudes favorables de la part de la haute direction, possédaient des taux nettement plus élevés d'informatisation chez les employés de bureau, offrant un certain appui au modèle de secours structurel de la structure de la technologie d'information. Il est intéressant de noter que nous n'avons pas trouvé de corrélation dans le secteur privé.